


Romantic

by inspiredbythemusic



Series: EXO Drabbles [3]
Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:34:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23455615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inspiredbythemusic/pseuds/inspiredbythemusic
Relationships: Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Reader, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/You
Series: EXO Drabbles [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695844
Kudos: 14





	Romantic

“Why aren’t we together?” Junmyeon’s gentle whisper draws your attention away from the novel you have been annotating in preparation for your Gothic Literature lecture.

 _How long has he been standing there?_ You wonder, looking up to find him sitting in the chair on the other side of your desk. A cup of coffee stands tall to the right of your mug that has long gone cold. He brought you coffee from that cafe down the street again. Raising his eyebrows, he takes a long sip of his drink– probably green tea– and you notice that his glass is half empty. 

Oh. He’s been here for a while. 

“I’m sorry.” You smile, embarrassed, while closing the book. As if they threaten to distract you from Junmyeon, you turn over your notebook to free yourself from the gaze of your scribbled handwriting. “I didn’t know you came in. You should have said something sooner.”

“Ah, I know better than to distract you from reading,” he begins as though he hadn’t done just that moments ago. Setting his cup down at his feet, he leans across your desk, takes your book into his careful hands, and grins. “ _Frankenstein_. Again." 

Reddening at his quiet teasing, you explain, "It’s for the class I’m teaching this afternoon.”

He returns the book and, tapping on the title, he points out, “You didn't need to reread this. It is definitely one of your most frequent reads, so you know it like the back of your hand.”

Just a few years your senior, Junmyeon is the youngest Associate Professor in the university’s Literature Department. While your other superiors have taken a polite interest in your potential as the newest Assistant Professor, none are quite as interesting to talk to as Junmyeon. He is intelligent, well-spoken, and– quite frankly– charming. 

His charms have little to do with his handsome face, perfectly styled black hair, or impeccable wardrobe (he looked like a literature professor in an almost fictional sense); they are more like personality traits that are expressed when he brings you coffee, when his knuckles knock on your door to ask if you will proofread the draft of his dissertation as if you are an intellectual equal, when hie tilts his head and thoughtfully furrows his brow after asking your opinion on the Drama Department Productions he insists on watching at your side. 

And now– now he expresses his charm by winking, thus wordlessly reigniting a feud that was born soon into your first meeting. While your studies focus on Gothic Literature, his are dedicated to Romantic Poetry– the poetry that boasts about individualism, idealizes nature, and details spiritual, emotional, and physical passions. Although your thesis explored Gothic themes as an extension of those Romantic ideals, you and Junmyeon have fallen into a habit of playfully arguing as if your fields are at odds. 

“I won’t apologize for having good taste. I’ll stick to my Gothic horror stories.” You reach to pull the book out of his reach. Holding the book safely in your lap, you bite back a mocking grin. “And you can stick to your Romantic–”

“Ah, there it is,” he jabs an accusatory finger at you. “There’s your air of superiority. I hate to remind you–” his smirk assures that he is all too happy to say– “that your idol Mary Shelly and mine, Mr. Percy Bysshe Shelley, experienced the most passionate of loves. That means our areas of expertise must be somehow compatible.”

Calling Mary Shelley your idol is perhaps an exaggeration, although you do admire her for writing _Frankenstein_ , but you don’t argue with Junmyeon about that. Instead, sounding very much like the youngest person in the room, you say, “I wouldn’t really say that I ship Mary and Percy–” Junmyeon gasps, flattening his hand over his chest, over his beige vest. “I mean, their union was kind of scandalous. Mary was only, like, 16, and Percy’s wife was pregnant–”

“It was true love!” Junmyeon claims. 

You disagree, but you don’t want to dissuade him from such a harmless conviction. You opt to joke, “Well, that’s very Romantic of you." 

Junmyeon often gripes about his students’ tendency to confuse romantic (themes related to love) and Romantic (a particular movement in Literature), so you expect him to glare at you. He tries to, but he quickly succumbs to the desire to laugh at your pun. 

"Okay. That was a good one.”

No, you think, it wasn’t. But Junmyeon has a particular interest in what you would call ‘dad jokes,’ so it is only fitting that he should wipe amused tears from his eyes as he recovers from his laughter. 

As you set to drinking the coffee he had been kind enough to bring for you, he asks, “Did you actually hear what I asked you earlier? Were you just stirred from your studies by the sound of my voice? Or are you just politely withholding your answer?”

“Hm?" 

He asked something? 

A faint blush dusts over the bride of his nose as his gaze flickers to your bookshelf that is overflowing with textbooks, novels, and film adaptations of select works. He studies the shelves– wheeling his chair closer to them so he can trace his fingers along the titles– although he already knows their contents. From the shelf, he plucks a small artificial skull, a reference to a scene from Hamlet, and he turns it over in his hands.

He is uncomfortable. Not enough to leave your office, but enough to fix his eyes on the skull to avoid your curious stare. 

It is clear that you shouldn’t ask him to repeat the question, so you close your eyes and will the memory to the surface of your mind. What did he say to catch your attention? 

_'Why aren’t we together?’_

You must have dismissed it because you didn’t understand its meaning. Together? In this moment, you are. You sit together in the same space talking about things that (although matter little to the rest of the world) are important to each of you. What other togetherness could Junmyeon want? 

"I’m not trying to avoid answering,” you say when the silence has endured far too long. “I just don’t quite understand what you asked." 

Gingerly placing the skull back on the shelf, he turns to face you. "I asked you why we aren’t together.” When you blink at him, confused, his discomfort dissolves into amusement. Laughter crinkles his eyes, and he exclaims, “You really know nothing about Romance!”

You are too grateful that his moody spell has passed to take genuine offense at his remark. “I know plenty! You’re just not very good at explaining what you mean." 

"I wasn’t aware that I need to spell it out.” His eyes glitter as they always do when he is ahead; he usually is ahead. “We understand each other. We share the same passions, the same interests, the same hobbies. Yet we aren’t so similar that it’s boring to spend time together; otherwise, we wouldn’t have these long chats, and we wouldn’t attend plays together, and we wouldn’t be going to that art exhibit after classes today.”

Anybody else might be unnerved by Junmyeon’s habit of speaking in essays, but you embrace the challenge of following his point. Nodding him along, you quietly wait for his monologue’s conclusion. You do not try to predict where his thoughts will lead. 

“We spend a lot of time together, and we enjoy that, or at least I enjoy it." 

If he would break to breathe, you would assure him that you do enjoy his company. He keeps speaking, though. 

"Often– more often than not– we are together. And when I went home alone last night after we left the bookstore, I wondered why we aren't together. Afraid that I might make you uncomfortable, that I might ruin our relationship as it is, I decided that I should keep that question to myself. When I saw you sitting there, so deep in thought, and beautiful, I couldn’t do it, though. I couldn’t bury the question. I wondered aloud why you are not my girlfriend.”

As if he hasn’t ended his speech by dropping a bomb, Junmyeon’s eyebrows shoot up, anticipating a response. Your replies are usually swift. Most of your time is spent quietly reflecting on a variety of questions. Usually, Junmyeon’s questions are mere verbalizations of matters you have already considered. Usually, your answers are mere verbalizations of previously reached conclusions. Usually, his questions do not stun you into silence. 

“Well,” you stutter, and Junmyeon gawks at witnessing you jumble words for the first time. “I– you know– first of all– I never imagined that someone like you would want someone like me." 

Expecting that there must be more to your perspective, Junmyeon limits his reaction to a downward jerk in the corner of his mouth. However, as he realizes that you aren’t prepared to say anything else, he leans forward in his seat, lowers his eyebrows, and his typically calm voice jaggedly confesses, "I don’t know what you mean. What is the difference between 'someone like you’ and 'someone like me?’”

“Just look at you!” You cover your face as soon as the words have blurted out of your mouth. Keeping your hand over your eyes so you don’t have to see his reaction to your outburst, you continue, “Aside from the fact that you’re much more beautiful than I–”

Uncharacteristically, Junmyeon interrupts. “I disagree." 

"Wait your turn.” You drop your hand to shoot him a warning glare. “You’ll derail my train of thought." 

"Some trains should be derailed.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “I am not more beautiful than you. Even if I were– and I am not– that is no reason why we shouldn’t be together. Appearances shouldn’t matter.”

It’s impossible to decide if you’re blushing more because of Junmyeon’s insistence that you are beautiful or because you have said something so shallow. Reaching again for his drink, he gestures for you to continue your response. 

“Um, appearances aside, you are older than me. You’re smarter–”

“I disagree,” he repeats shortly. A line deepens between his eyebrows. “I’ll concede that I am more educated, but that does not mean that I am more intelligent.”

You allow, “be that as it may, you are technically my superior. I am an Assistant Professor, and you are an Associate Professor.”

Junmyeon replies, obviously disheartened by your response so far judging by the slumping of his shoulders, “There is no dating ban among faculty." 

"That’s not the issue.” Your face burns. “I’m just– I’m trying to explain that we aren’t together because I have never considered that you were interested in anything other than a professional acquaintanceship.”

Laughing, he repeats, “Acquaintanceship.” He smiles fondly while joking, “I’ve heard of friend-zoned, but never acquaintance-zoned.” Once he is no longer amused, he admits, “I do want more than a professional acquaintanceship, and I want more than a friendship." 

As your blush deepens, he leans back into his seat, flustered. "I understand if you don’t feel the same way. Take all the time you need to explore your feelings, but if you decide that you don’t want me, don’t let it be because of something silly like thinking you’re not pretty enough or smart enough or–”

“I didn’t say that I don’t want you.” Your argument is brief but stable. Now it is Junmyeon’s turn to sit back and blink at you. “I said I don’t understand why you want me. That is not the same as saying that I don’t want you.” You bite your tongue just short of professing, 'I have every reason to want you.' 

Understanding at last, Junmyeon closes his agape mouth. Moments pass in silence as you try to decide whose turn it is to speak. 

Junmyeon claims it is his. “I don’t think I can explain it well with words, but I think– I think I can show you over time. I think it will make more sense once I am your boyfriend." 

You are not sure what he means, and you are too struck by his stutter to press him for an elaboration. 

If you are honest, you will admit that it doesn’t matter why Junmyeon wants to be together. It doesn’t matter if he changes his mind first thing in the morning with the rising of the sun. This moment of being on the same page at the same time, of sharing the same gaze, is infinite. 

"I’m not expected to dress up for our date tonight, am I?” You rise to your feet, clutching your notebook in one hand and _Frankenstein_ in the other. “I don’t think I’ll have time to change between class and the art exhibit.”

Junmyeon beams as he stands. While sipping his green tea, he carries your coffee and walks with you to your classroom. “I think you look lovely as you are." 

He sets your drink down on your desk. Content that there are no students or other professors nearby– cautious not because he cares who sees but because he respects your modesty– he brushes a gentle kiss against your cheek while you are busy troubleshooting the testy projector. 

Gasping, you reach to trace your fingers against your cheek, and he laughs at your reaction to his first act of affection. "There’s one reason why I am falling in love with you.” He points at your growing smile, careful not to discuss intimate matters too loudly now that you aren’t tucked away in your office. “I have never known anybody so expressive.”

As much as you enjoy the fluttering of your heart, you are eager for Junmyeon to leave so you can finish preparing for class. Stealing a glance at your watch, you ask, “Don’t you teach that Wordsworth class right about now?”

He dreamily props his head up on your desk, gushing, “How romantic– you already know my schedule!” His playfulness quickly fades, and he strains to catch the time displayed on your wrist. “What time is it?”

“3:30.”

He gasps, “I’m late!” And darts out of the room. 

Just as you are catching your breath, just as you are realizing that you are Junmyeon’s girlfriend, that this otherwise boring Tuesday now marks the start of something new and exciting, his head pokes back through the doorway. “Hey, let’s drive to that exhibit together, okay?”

You are about to scold him for keeping his students waiting and for distracting you from your work, but you falter at the sight of his sparkling smile. Besides, if you argue, he will stay longer; although that is exactly what you want, that is not the responsible option. You nod, “Okay. I’ll see you after class.”

“See ya!” He waves and sets off to his classroom two doors down, where you hear him announce to his students, “Sorry I’m late! I had _romantic_ matters to tend to.”

You can vividly imagine his clever grin as his students are split between guttural groans and pity-laughter. As you smile, you wonder when you started to fall in love with Junmyeon.


End file.
